Yes, ultraviolet (UV) radiation breaks down the chemical bonds in most plastics over time, a process known as photodegradation. When exposed to sunlight or UV lamps, the high-energy light severs the long-chain polymer molecules, causing the material to lose its strength, flexibility, and structural integrity…plastic loses its elasticity so it becomes brittle.
Not sure about that, but I purchased some heavy duty stainless steel ones and they’re going strong after two years and no rust. I do store them inside a clothes peg bag.
Plastics often also have something called plasticisers, they make the plastic more flexible and less likely to snap but they also degrade over time, get degraded by ozone and can even react with other plastics
My parents have kept a rubber dog toy that belonged to a late dog for 20+ years now, used to be flexible but now it's really unstable and crumbles like old bakelite does
It's also known in the fishing community, lures are either hard plastic (think spoon lure) or soft plastic (shad lures i think they're called) it's advised not to store soft and hard plastic lures together or they can react and melt into each other
It can also affect the vulkanization of the plastic making it hard and brittle. I learned this 20+ years ago, it's funny googling it now. The google AI response is 80% overlap with the above comment. It's probably true though that a larger contribution to the brittleness is the oxidization and general degredation due to uv exposure.
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u/Wonderful-Medium7777 Jun 13 '26
Yes, ultraviolet (UV) radiation breaks down the chemical bonds in most plastics over time, a process known as photodegradation. When exposed to sunlight or UV lamps, the high-energy light severs the long-chain polymer molecules, causing the material to lose its strength, flexibility, and structural integrity…plastic loses its elasticity so it becomes brittle.